Typhoon Sendong is the deadliest cyclone to hit the Philippines in the last 12 years, leaving more than a thousand people dead, 300, 000 families displaced and billions of pesos worth of property destroyed.

In December, 2011, immediately after the deluge, Royal Dutch Shell donated 1 million USD for the rebuilding and rehabilitation efforts in communities badly hit by the typhoon. Shell partnered with Gawad Kalinga (GK) in effectively utilising the fund to provide long-term help and assistance to communities badly affected by the calamity. Shell committed to build 122 GK houses in Brgy Calaanan in CDO and a school in Brgy Sta Elena, Iligan City—which serves as a relocation site for typhoon Sendong victims in Iligan.

Jannet Cabalhin, a single mother of two, used to enjoy a quiet life in Isla De Oro for 15 years, until the day typhoon Sendong almost took everything they owned. “The sudden and unexpected destruction left by the floods rendered us hopeless. We thought we could never rebuild our lives and regain our homes,” she said. “But today I am full of hope and joy…Thank you so much to Shell and to Gawad Kalinga Foundation. We’ll forever count the new home you’ve given us as the blessing of a lifetime!” Cabalhin is one of the beneficiaries of the Shell-GK Housing Project.

In addition to the 122 houses already turned over, SciP Country Chairman Edgar Chua made an announcement that Shell will also donate a multipurpose hall and will complete the remaining 78 GK homes to make the total donation up to 200 houses. GK is set to complete construction by June, 2013.

Shell has been a staunch partner of GK since the inception of GK villages for the homeless. To date, there are four (4) Shell-GK villages in Batangas, Southern Leyte, and Cagayan de Oro and 23 Shell GK Bayan Anihan farms in the Bicol Region. Shell is also working with GK for Bayan-Anihan (Community Harvest), GK’s food sustenance programme that aims to eradicate hunger one family at a time by empowering GK communities to produce food for themselves. In times of natural disasters, Shell consistently works with GK in providing long-term aid and rehabilitation to communities badly affected by the calamities.

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Enquiries:

Roberto S. Kanapi

Vice-President for Communications & Government Relations

Shell companies in the Philippines

E-mail: bobby.kanapi@shell.com

Tel: +63.2.816-6087

Fax: +63.2.814-6494

About Shell and Our Commitment to Sustainable Development

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Shell’s energy portfolio in the Philippines include investments in exploration and extraction of natural gas, oil refinery, a 3,000-strong Shell Shared Business Service Centre, delivery of smarter products for clean and fuel efficient transport in the country, and the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power Project, which represents 30% of the country’s power generation requirements through cleaner-burning natural gas that provide considerably long-term revenue stream to the government and foreign exchange savings.

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